Chapter 12 

MILE POST 101

On July 26, 1876 Phillips & Colby resumed construction at Mile Post 101 (now Worcester) continuing northward. By the end of the year, December 8, they had the iron down and wheels rolling to Butternut Creek, a distance of 32 miles, which completed an unbroken stretch of 194 miles of finished railroad from Menasha. This 32 mile section from Mile Post 101 to Butternut Creek plainly reflected bold inefficiency and appalling lack of knowledge in railroad building.

It was here that Phillips earned the sobriquet "The Bogus Prince" and the bitter rawhiding from the press. This last piece of road might be termed a travesty; a poor imitation of stable, solid construction; short on ballast, cross ties and spikes, and so obviously unsound that the lightest engines only could be used. This was true over much of the 57 mile gap left unfinished in 1873-74 when Phillips & Colby Company cut loose from competent road building contractors and elected to execute the work themselves. For many years the traffic was handled over that section of road by the oldest and lightest locomotives, the heaviest of which were No. 108-128 class Baldwin moguls weighting 105,000 pounds.

Further north at the Penokee Gap location, Capt. W. W. Rich, Superintendent of the Ashland -Penokee isolated division, was making preparations to push southward from Penokee Gap to meet the northbound Phillips crews. Accordingly, Cspt. Rich commenced construction at the “Gap” October 2, 1876, moving southward, and cut his way through 15 miles of timber in about 60 days to a point known as Chippewa Crossing (later named Glidden). The iron was in place and ready for service  on November 26, 1876.

On May 19, 1877, Phillips & Colby resumed construction at Butternut Creek northward, and on June 2, the north and south divisions met and were joined at Section 144, near Chippewa Crossing. The last spike driven, the original Wisconsin Central project, after six years of discouragement and hardship, became a firm reality.

Fourteen days later, June 16, 1877, the first through trains were placed in service, establishing uninterrupted rail transportation between Ashland and Milwaukee without change of cars or transfer. (Wisconsin Central from Ashland to Menasha; Milwaukee and Northern Railway from Menasha to Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Central freight and passenger load turned over to the C.M.&St.P. at Milwaukee for Chicago delivery.)

At the Ashland end of the line, telegraph wires had been strung along the right-of-way, and with the arrival of the railroad, Ashland for the first time, enjoyed direct railroad and wire communication with the outside world. Now, with its new railroad, the telegraph line and the palatial Chequamegon Hotel, Ashland, promptly stepped into a position of importance as a shipping point, lumbering center, and summer resort.